Wall panelling unit



March 1959 L'. BRUEMMER 2,877,510

WALL PANELLING UNIT Filed May 19, 1955 L 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2'

0 3 E E v INVENTOR. V 44 5mm L+120Y BRumMeR 5.1 Ji a w ATTORNEYfi WALL PANELLING UNIT Herman L. Bruemmer, Los Angeles, Calif. Application May 19, 1955, Serial No. 509,572 11 Claims. (CI. 20-15) The present invention relates generally to building construction, more particularly to a wall panelling unit for finishing interior walls.

While the present invention is illustrated in connec-' tion with wall panelling units for interior use, it will be realized by those skilled in the art that the invention has wider application and may be easily adapted for use in panelling other structures, both interior and exterior, and may also be employed in the construction of portable structures.

One type of wall covering that has found fairly widespread use in the past is known in the trade as basketweave. Basket-weave panels of the conventional type are constructed by weaving relatively long, thin strips of wood or other building material into a flat or curved panel having a pleasing texture and appearance similar to that of a basket woven from fiat splints. Such panel is then nailed or otherwise secured to the surface to be covered. While the foregoing type of construction produces a very pleasing and desirable appearance, it has been relatively expensive due to the difficulty of handling long strips of wood. Similar difficulties'are encountered in connection with the storage and shipment of the Ina-- terial used for conventional basket-weave construction.

Another problem in basket-weave panelling of conventional type is in the securing of the woven panel to the wall. It is diflicult at best to apply nails or other fasteners to conventional basket-weave panels in such a way as to hide the nails in the finished application. Also the nails applied in securing conventional basketweave panels in place cause a warping or distortion of the surface texture.

With a general view to overcoming the ditiiculties above-mentioned, it is a major object of my invention to provide relatively small and easily handled identical panelling units which may be applied to a wall to present the finished appearance of the aforementioned basketweave type of panelling.

It is another object of my invention .to provide units of the class described which may be readily packaged into bundles for easy shipment and storage.

It is still another object of my invention to provide a construction unit of the class described which may be fabricated from relatively short lengths of wood or other finishing material which might otherwise be discarded as scrap.

It is a further object of my invention to provide units of the class described which can be readily and quickly applied by a relatively unskilled artisan.

' It is a still further object of my invention to provide panelling units which may easily be applied to a wall surface with fasteners which will be hidden in the complete panelled surface.

It is yet another object of my invention to provide a constructionunit of the class described which is readily adaptable 'to .the construction of differing designs and grain.

2,877,510 Patented Mar. 17, 1959 The foregoing and additional objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the following detailed description of several embodiments thereof, consideration being given likewise to the attached drawings in which: I

' Figure 1 is a perspective view of the corner of a room panelled with units "embodying my invention, one of the walls being only partially covered to illustrate the means and method of applying the panelling. units;

"Figure 2 is a front elevational view of one panelling unit embodying the invention;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3--3 in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged portion of the wall shown in Figure l as identified by the circle 4 in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an elevational section taken on the line 55 in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a perspective view similar to Figure 1 showing an alternate form of wall texture embodying units constructed according to a different form of my invention;

Figure 7 is an elevational view of the form of unit employed in constructing the wall shown in Figure 6; I Figure 8 is an elevational longitudinal section through a panelling unit embodying a third form of my inventron;

Figure 9 is an enlarged portion of Figure 6 as shown by the circle 9 therein; and

Figure 10 i a horizontal section through a plurality ofunits of the type shown in Figure 8 as secured to a wall.

Referring first to Figures 1 through 5 illustrating a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, the reference character 20 indicates a wall panelling unit embodying my invention. The unit 20 is of a generally T-shapcd configuration illustrated in Figure 2 and includes a longitudinal strip 21 usually but not necessarily to be placed horizontally against the wall and a relatively short cross-piece 22 secured across one end of the longitudinal strip 21. The strip 21 and cross-piece 22 are preferably secured together by gluing.

The front surface of the unit 20 is shown in Figure 2 and it 'will be seen thatthe cross-piece 22 overliesthe longitudinal strip 21 and that the lapping end of the latter terminates just short of the medial center-line 23 of the cross-piece 2 2. l i

In the panelling shown in Figure l, the units 20 ,are applied with the longitudinal strip 21 of each unit in a horizontal position and with a series of strips 21 aligned e-nd-to-end across the wall. Each abutting joint between .two successive longitudinal strips 21 occurs under a vertical strip, each of the joints between two successive cross-pieces being hidden under a longitudinal strip 21- which is arched up over the ends of the cross-pieces 22 during application of the units, thus giving the basketweave appearance to the completed panel. The nails,

.tacks, or other fastening members used to secure the units 20 to the wall are placed near the ends of the strips 21 and the cross-pieces 22 So as to be hidden by later applied overlying units.

.-The=method of applying the panelling near the upper edge of the wall is illustrated in Figure 4 wherein it will be seen that certain edge units are trimmed by removing '70 textures by-the use of various .typesfof wood and wood the upwardly projecting end of the cross-piece 22 as indicated at 23. The removed end may be applied to the ;wall asindicated at 2.4 so as tofur out the overlying longitudinal Strip 21. d

Similarly, the longitudinal strip 21 of certain edge units are cut off as indicatedby the dotted line 24 in Figure 2, the two resulting portions of theunit 20 being used to finish the panel at the vertica'l'je'dges thereof. The vertical and horizontal edges of a finished Wall panel may be trimmed with quarter-round or other suitable molding as indicated at 25, 26, and 27 in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 3, the molding strip 25 applied at a vertical corner is applied before application of the panelling units 20, whereas floor molding as shown at 26 and ceiling molding as shown at'27 is usually applied after the panel units 20 are applied.

An alternate form of wall panelling using a slightly different form of unit is illustrated in Figures 6, 7, and 9. Here it will be seen that the modified unit 30 is essentially the same as that previously described except that the longitudinal strip 31 and the cross-piece 32 are both trimmed on the bias, and the cross-piece 32 instead of being attached to the longitudinal strip 31 at right angles thereto, is secured at a relatively acute angle corresponding to the angle at which the ends are trimmed. Thus the aligned strips made up of cross-pieces 32 are diagonal in orientation as shown in Figure 6 presenting a considerably diiferent appearance than the rectangularly arranged strips shown in Figure 1.

In applying units of the type shown in Figure 7, it will be realized that each of the edge pieces making up the edge along the corner 35, for example, must be cut at a different position in order to preserve the diagonal arrangement above-mentioned. As in the previous embodiment however, the trimming along the top edge at 37 consists merely in removal of one projecting end of the cross-piece as shown at 33 and the tacking of this removed portion to the wall as shown at 34 to fur out the longitudinal strip 31 as previously described.

Still another modification of the invention is illustrated in Figures 8 and 10. Here the longitudinal strips 41 are identical to the strips 21 in the first described embodiment. The cross-pieces ,42 are however constructed from a half-round, molding-like material somewhat thicker than the longitudinal strip 41 whereby to produce a higher arch at 45 where the longitudinal strips 41 pass over the half-round cross-pieces 42.

While a wide variety of different types and sizes of material can be used in constructing panelling units of the various types above-described, I have found that a very pleasing wall texture is produced by the use of plywood on the order of /s" thickness cut in. strips on the order of 4 to 6" in width. Pleasing decorative effects may be produced by using different materials for the longitudinal strips 21 and the crosspieces 22, for example, Philippine mahogany and birch. Also it is possible to use different types of longitudinal strips in a given horizontal row whereby to produce still further decorative effects.

The units constructed according to my invention may be conveniently packed in bundles with the cross-pieces alternating from one end to the other of the bundle. The units may be readily applied by the use of ordinary lathing nails or alternatively by the use of power-driven wire staples of various known types. Already finished plaster walls may be covered with the panelling units shown herein or if desired the units may be applied directly to the studs with an underlying layer of building paper or other suitable insulation. In the latter type of construction the overall length of the units must correspond to the modular distance between studs.

While the forms of the invention shown and described herein are fully capable of achieving the objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore stated, it will be realized that the invention may be modified without departure from the spirit thereof. For this reason I do not mean to be limited to the form shown and described, but rather to the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A T-shaped panelling unit having a longitudinal flat strip the length of which is several times its width and a cross-piece overlyingly secured to said strip at one end thereof, said strip lapping over said cross-piece by less than one-half the widtlf'of the latter.

2. A T-shaped panelling unit having a longitudinal flat strip of predetermined width substantially less than one-half its length and an overlying cross-piece secured to said strip adjacent one end thereof, said cross-piece L projecting laterally from the edges of said strip by an amount not more than one-half said strip width whereby said unit may be assembled with other substantially identical units with the respective strips and cross-pieces of said assembled units in abutting alignment and with the joint between abutting cross-pieces hidden under strips arched over said joints.

3. A panelling unit comprising: a longitudinal fiat strip; and a cross-piece overlyingly secured to said strip adjacent one end thereof and oriented on the bias with respect thereto, the other end of said strip being cut on the bias parallel to said cross-piece.

4. A T-shaped panelling unit having a longitudinal flat strip with an overlying cross-piece secured to the front surface thereof at one end thereof, said cross-piece having a convex front surface.

5. A T-shaped panelling unit having a longitudinal flat strip with an overlying cross-piece secured to the front surface thereof at one end thereof, said cross-piece having a convex front surface and being of substantially less width than said strip.

6. A wall panel comprised of a plurality of substantially identical units each having a longitudinal strip and a cross-piece secured thereto and overlying an end of said strip by less than the width of said cross-piece, said strips and said cross-pieces respectively being arranged in abutting rows with each abutting strip joint underlying a cross-piece and each strip being arched over a row of cross-pieces whereby to overlie an abutting cross-piece joint, all of said units being secured to a supporting wall surface by fasteners located adjacent the free ends of said strips and cross-pieces whereby said fasteners are hidden in the finished panel.

7. The wall panel of claim 6 characterized in that the cross-pieces and strips adjacent the edges of the wall surface have one end fastened to the wall surface, the fastened end being hidden by overlying strips and crosspieces respectively, the other end of the cross-pieces and strips being free.

8. The wall panel of claim 6 characterized in that the cross-piece of a unit projects laterally from the edges of a strip to which it is secured by an amount not more than one-half the strip width.

9. The wall panel of claim 6 characterized in that the units thereof have a T-shape.

10. A wall panel comprised of a plurality of substantially identical units each having a longitudinal flat strip, and a cross-piece secured thereto and overlying one end of said strip by less than the width of said crosspiece, said strip being oriented on the bias with respect to said cross-piece and having the free ends thereof cut on a bias parallel to said cross-piece, said strips and said cross-pieces respectively being arranged in abutting rows with each abutting strip joint underlying a cross-piece and each strip being arched over a row of cross-pieces whereby' to overlie an abutting cross-piece joint, all of said units being secured to a supporting wall surface by fasteners located adjacent the free ends of said strips and cross-pieces whereby said fasteners are hidden in the finished panel.

11. A T-shaped panelling unit having a longitudinal flat strip of length several times its width and an overlying cross-piece secured to said strip adjacent one end thereof, said cross-piece projecting laterally from the edges of said strip by an amount not more than one half ;said strip width whereby said unit may be assembled with other substantially identical units with the respective strips and cross-pieces of said assembled units in abutting alignment and with the joint between abutting crosspieces hidden under strips arched over said joints, and said cross-piece overlying said strip by less than the width of said cross-piece whereby said cross-piece overlaps the end of said strip to hide the joints between abutting strips when said units are assembled as aforesaid.

187,962 Cantrell Mar. 6, 1877 6 Howson Apr. 27, 1886 Motfatt Aug. 10, 1915 Home May 24, 1932 Borges Nov. 30, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain 1902 France Sept. 18, 1939 

